Maha-Ashtami

Yesterday was Maha-Ashtami, the eighth day of Durga Pujo, the eighth day of Devi Pokhho (literally, the days of the Godess) and usually an excelent reason to spend the entire night out on the streets of Calcutta pandal-hopping and having a whale of a good time. We have an exam looming next week.. and yes, I am going to well and truly splattered in this one. I went out with S and S to a plce near AA, maybe 45 minutes.. P and M followed in their car and got hilariously lost. So hilariously lost that they took a good two and a half hours getting there. 'There' was a small school on a suburb of Detroit where some Bong folks had put together the typical 'probashi' or diaspora pujo. The pujo was actually well orchestrated, if a trifle different; mostly because the purohit/priest was a North Indian, or as we call them, Hindustani bloke. The cultural programme had as its highlight a reasonably well worked out play... it is mostly a matter of luck at such places... the audience can expect to see performances ranging from the absolutely awful to the reasonably good. Very good takes a lot more work. And then again, such plays will typically have as their theme a comedy... very few people seem to want to see good theatre at a Durga Pujo. Again, this is something that Mukhosh, a theatre group I happened to hang around with a long time ago in Bangalore is trying to change. There! My little bit of propaganda done... Adios... All told, a day well spent. Pictures will come later..